The Contour of the Heart
by Heavens Wrath 15
Summary: *In the process of being rewritten* Beaten to a pulp, Naruto falls to the ground from exhaustion, and becomes unconscious. He wakes up a few days later lying on top of a table... -AU-ish -NaruSaku!-
1. HeroHerione

Hello! Summer boredom took over, and for some reason I wrote this. I don't know why, but I figured I may as well go with it, post it, and share it with everyone else. I don't know where this plot will go, how long it will be, or if I'll ever complete it...but...yeah...I hope it is enjoyable since it basically came out of my rear end! YaY for my rear end! lol, jk jk. Yeah, it's just...Random/serious/I don't know.

Anyway, it's an Alternate Universe Naruto that sort of involves the ninja world I guess. I tried to keep somewhat to the personalities, but I probably failed at that. FYI, Naruto and Sakura never knew each other as kids, and never met each other before this. Naruto has also never met Tsunade or Shizune, and if the story goes on, I will inform you whether he knows certain other characters or not. Here is the Original description: Beaten to a pulp, Naruto falls to the ground from exhaustion, and becomes unconscious...only to wake up a few days later...[AU][NaruSaku]. In case you missed it before. Also, if you don't like what you end up reading...THEN DON'T READ IT! It's that simple.

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!!! IT BELONGS TO HIS RESPECTABLE OWNER SO DON'T SUE ME! I'M A POOR COLLEGE STUDENT! YOU'LL JUST GET THE LINT UNDER MY BED! I merely used the characters for my own personal means. THIS IS FAN-MADE! Also the title of this chapter belongs to the respectable artist as well. If this sounds like a story you read somewhere else, THEN I AM SORRY! PLEASE TELL ME AND I WILL GIVE YOU PROPER CREDIT! I rarely come on this site these days, so I wouldn't be surprised if these ideas were elsewhere. On that note, I OWN THE FREAKING PLOT! IF YOU READ THIS STORY, LIKE IT, AND WANT TO USE SIMILAR ASPECTS OR EVEN PARTS OF IT THEN PLEASE INFORM ME! We'll figure it out from there. I'll also ask that you put my name somewhere saying that you were INSPIRED BY ME OR SOMETHING! YOU WOULD MAKE MY DAY!**

*cough cough* Now that that is cleared up, ON TO THE STORY!!_!_

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**The Contour of the Heart**

_Chapter1:_

_Hero/Heroine_

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_'Noise...all there is is noise...a steaming kettle...footsteps...mumbled voices and...Warmth?...Am...Am I dead? The rest of my body feels cold...except...'_

Within another second, the warmth was gone, and he returned to the eternal blackness behind his eyelids. His body was on a smooth yet hard surface, but his head he assumed was on a pillow since it was much softer. With some strength, he was able to force his eyes open just enough for light to get through his pupils. Though everything was a bit blurry, he could make out a wooden ceiling fan rotating above him. Tilting his head to his left side there looked to be various medical supplies in his peripheral vision as well. He soon became more aware of the rest of his body, and noticed a rough material around his chest as well as it being slightly harder for him to breathe than he remembered. He turned his head to his right side where the warmth on his cheek had been what seemed like an eternity ago.

A female with shoulder length pink hair, at least a few yards away, was standing in front of a window looking out at the sunset. He guessed she was around his age of 15 or 16 years old from how developed her body was. Looking a little more around the room, he came to the conclusion he was in a kitchen. A tea pot on the stove was ready to whistle, a refrigerator was humming in the corner of the room, and several chairs were around where he was laying. He looked back to the girl, but found that this time he held his breath at the sight of her. Her body was faced forward, angled slightly towards the window, but he had a clear profile view of her head as she looked out the window. From his angle, she looked to be glowing in her red vest, pink skirt, and black spandex as the light illuminated her curvy form, and her green eyes glittered from the sun striking them. She had the most stunning green eyes he had ever seen.

_'She's...beautiful...'_ it was his last thought before he closed his eyes and was once again out cold from exhaustion.

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_**=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=**_ A Day Later _**=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=**_

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It was hard for him to determine what had awakened him from his slumber, however his nose was the one to decide. It picked up the scent of his favorite food, ramen, causing his stomach to growl. He felt as if his body was suddenly energized, and his eyes cracked open again. Instead of a pink haired, young adult watching the sunset another female was in her place at the stove. The woman had long blonde hair in two pony tails that cascaded down her back, black pants that went to the middle of her calf muscle, and a green jacket with a red circle encompassing a symbol meaning 'Gamble.' Curious as to the time of day, he focused his eyes to the window only to conclude it was night since it was dark outside.

As if sensing his restoration of energy, the woman turned her blonde head to look in his direction, "About time you woke up. You've been out for three days since we found you," she commented.

"I have?" he croaked out. His mouth felt dry, but he figured it was probably due to being out of use for a few days. He began to sit up by pushing his body up with his arms. A sudden pain shot through his chest and flowed through the rest of his body by the movement causing him to slide back into his previous supine position.

_'Why does my chest hurt so much?'  
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"Yes, and you should feel lucky that my pupil found you while she was out on an errand, and decided to bring you back here."

He slowly sat up this time, minding the pain emitting from his chest though it wasn't as bad as when he had initially tried, and turned his body to face her. He let his legs dangle over the edge of the platform.

"We'll talk more about this in a moment. Now get off the table so we can eat!"

_'...Huh? Get off the...table? I know they put me in the kitchen...but the table?'_

Looking down he realized a few things: he was shirtless, his chest was wrapped in bandages, smaller bandages were on his arms, and he was indeed on a table. The blonde-haired woman was now standing in front of him holding a large bowl of ramen and confused by his stillness. He held is breath as he looked into the woman's brown aged eyes. Though she looked to be no older than 25 years old with a purple diamond marking in the middle of her forehead, her eyes held that of experience and wisdom.

"Didn't you hear me?"

"Oh, right!" He jumped off the table. As his feet hit the ground, he felt his knees give way, and the momentum of his body propelled his face forward into the ground smashing his nose.

"Owe..."

The woman chuckled as she put the bowl of ramen onto the table and removed his pillow before looking at him, "You are probably the clumsiest person I've met in a number of years. Anyway, I hope you like ramen, because that's the best we have right now." She then leaned down and grabbed his arm, pulling him up so he stood next to her, "And I think you should take it easy for a bit. Your wounds were rather deep."

"Thank you," he said with as big a smile as he could muster, "I love...ramen," he commented as he slowly walked to the end of the rectangular table and sat down in the chair at the end. He continued to examine the bandage on his chest, recognizing it was also harder for him to talk since his lungs didn't feel like they were functioning properly while she stood between him and the bowl of ramen. She began serving him a bowl while the conversation continued.

"You're probably wondering why your chest hurts...aren't you?" the woman asked as she looked down at the bandage.

He nodded in response, though he somewhat already knew the answer, but wanted to hear about his state of being in the last few days from another person.

She began to explain her side of the story, "I don't know what you went through, but when my pupil brought you here there were several cuts on your arms and legs. The major damage seemed to be to your chest. One would gather that you were hit with an intense attack to that area...and judging from the looks of it...it seems like you were even luckier to have survived that fatal hit."

Her last few words seemed to trigger a recent memory in his head. There was a flash of a man's face in his mind. Black, spiky hair, red eyes, pale skin, and a black cloak with red clouds that was high enough to cover his mouth. He shook his head, but that wasn't the best of ideas since he suddenly felt lightheaded.

"Easy there," he heard her say as she grasped his shoulder to balance him and placed a bowl filled with ramen in front of him, "Eat some ramen. It should help out with whatever dizziness you are feeling." She then poured a bowl of ramen for herself, and moved to the other side of the table to sit across from him.

"Anyway, as I was saying. My pupil brought you back here on a whim. She spotted your blond head in a mud puddle, and she thought you were already dead. However, she was able to find a weak pulse, and though there was quite a bit of damage to your lungs you were still breathing. You're also lucky since I am a medical ninjutsu specialist, and so are my two pupils. She did as best as she could at the time to heal your lungs, and then made the excruciating journey back here carrying you on her back."

It seemed almost surreal to hear the story of how he had come to be sitting at this table, in this place, with this woman across from him. What seemed even more surreal was how she dealt with it. She spoke as if this was merely a simple procedure instead of some life altering moment in his life.

"So now that I've explained all this, what's your name?"

"The name is Naruto," he responded sitting up a little straighter, "I'm going to be the future Hokage of Konoha one day."

A small smirk appeared on her lips as she responded, "Naruto? That's an interesting name. Hmm, and future Hokage...it takes someone extremely special to fill those shoes...not some half-dead person who barely survived an attack like that yet alone got hit by one."

His eyebrow twitched, "Humph, you'll see one day. Who are you anyway?"

She let out a soft giggle, then straightened up in her chair, pushing her shoulders back, puffing out her already large chest, and looking directly into his eyes, "I am the great Princess Tsunade, and you are in my home in the outskirts of the Fire Country."

"Never heard of you."

"What?! I'm one of the three great Sanins' of Konoha! And you want to be Hokage someday?! Yet you haven't even heard of ME!?"

Naruto looked up at the ceiling, and crossed his arms over his chest, regretting the motion since it slightly hurt, "You don't sound familiar at all," though in truth he vaguely remembered hearing her name tossed around during one of the classes he had nodded off through when he was a youngster in the academy. He looked back down at her, "So you probably aren't as important as you say you are."

Tsunade's upper lip twitched, as her eyes narrowed, "You Brat. Didn't they teach you anything in the academy?"

"Nothing much about the Sanins...except...," he cast her a look of skepticism, "Of all the things they mentioned, it was that they took part in one of the great Ninja Wars many years ago. Even if you were one, then you should be in your fifties by now. Yet you don't even look that old."

_'Freaking brat. This kid is starting to get on my nerves__,'_ she thought to herself as she took a deep breath, and then commented, "Whether you believe me or not, I am one."

"Alright, whatever you say, Granny Tsunade."

It was as if lightning had run straight through her body at the mention of the word granny, "What did you call me?" Her voice was almost frightening as she had basically shoved the words out through her gritted teeth.

"Granny Tsunade!" He said with more enthusiasm than before as he extended his arm to point at her with a big toothy smile, "Because you say you are a sannin who is more than fifty years old. So you must be an old woman who is trying to hide her age!"

Tsunade's eyes widen until the pupils were no longer visible and she pointed at him angrily as she said the next words, "DON'T CALL ME THAT. I JUST SAVED YOUR LIFE! WHAT HAPPENED TO RESPECTING YOUR ELDERS?!"

"You're not an elder, you're just claiming to be one," Naruto responded confidently, "Therefore your name is Granny Tsunade."

There would be no way of convincing him to call her otherwise, so she sighed and gave up, "Fine. So be it, brat." She brought her arm back to her chest and crossed the other arm over it with a grumble, "Anyway, what brought you to around these parts to begin with?"

It seemed as if the lightheartedness of teasing one of his saviors had been sucked out of the air as Naruto felt his heart sink. He recalled the battle that had left him helpless, the face returned to his mind even more clearly than before. The events that had lead to his demise were flashing in front of his eyes. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked into his ramen bowl.

"Granny Tsunade...I thank you for everything you've done...but I would rather not talk about it." Though Naruto was still looking down at his bowl of ramen, he could feel the look of skepticism Tsunade cast towards him, burning through the top of his skull making him feel obligated to speak.

After a few moments of silent thought he continued, "To put it simply..."he sighed as he recollected the memory, "After searching for many years I finally found the person I was after, but I lost the battle. As you can see," he pointed to the bandage on his chest, "he dealt a bit of damage to me, and knocked me out cold. I don't know how long I have been truly out for but...I can tell you this much," at these words he lifted his head so that his blue eyes pierced through Tsunade who leaned back from the intensity of his gaze, "I'm grateful your pupil saved me, and for all the hospiltality you have shown me."

Tsunade relaxed, and the sides of her lips curved upward to form a smile as she lifted her bowl to drink the ramen liquid. Truth be told, it had been years since she had met someone like him, someone who could switch between joking and seriousness, survive an attack such as that, and still put a smile on his face. She was about to say something when she heard the door to her home open and then close.

Naruto looked over to the doorway to see a dark haired, pale skinned woman dressed in a black robe walk into the room holding a small pink pig in her arms.

"Welcome back," Tsunade greeted, "I made some ramen if you would like some."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama," the woman responded as she took a seat on the side between where Naruto and Tsunade sat, and began serving herself a bowl of ramen.

"Naruto, I would like you to meet one of my pupils, Shizune."

Both nodded and smiled at the other.

"It's good to meet you, Naruto."

"Same to you. Oh! Were you the one who picked me up?"

Shizune was about to respond, but it was Tsunade who answered first, "No, that would be my other pupil. You will probably meet her when she gets back. Otherwise, you're probably still exhausted. There is a room upstairs, first door on the left, which is used as a guest room. You can stay until you recover."

Though the idea was enticing, Naruto didn't feel quite right about it. He gulped down the rest of his ramen, and then slowly stood up.

"You have already done so much for me; I don't think it would be right to intrude much longer. In fact I think it's a good idea if I take off now–"

Just as Naruto had taken a step away from the table, he felt his whole chest throb, and his knees give way once again from the intensity of it. Naruto felt his body begin to fall downward when two arms went directly under his armpits and lifted him back up. He lifted his head to see Shizune standing in front of him.

"With the way your body is at the moment, you may be mostly recovered, but you still have yet to regain your full energy and health. The room is yours for as long as you need it. There are also guest clothes that will probably fit you if you would like to change."

Naruto nodded towards her, "I guess I will be taking you up on that offer." He sat back down in his chair, and shizune passed him the large serving bowl of ramen so he could get another helping.

Tsunade nodded as the bowl was then passed to her and she too began filling up another bowl of ramen, "So do you have any questions for me?"

"Yes actually...How long was I out for again? And why was I on a table?" he asked.

She nodded, then began speaking, "From the time we found you until now you have been out for about three days like I said earlier. You were put on the table since it would have been difficult to work on you using one of the small rooms upstairs. Our supplies would have taken up too much space, and it wouldn't have been a comfortable environment for one or two of us to heal you. Also your jacket was destroyed, you were covered in mud and blood, and being in the kitchen provided an easy access to a fresh supply of water so we could effortlessly clean around the wounds with wash cloths. We would have given you a bath in the the tub, but my pupils and I are all female. If I had a male pupil things would have been different."

He smiled, realizing they were only doing what was best for him, "Thank you..."

"Do you have another question?"

"No, I think I'm good for now. Um, I guess I should go get my rest."

Tsunade and Shizune both nodded as Naruto lifted himself a little more hesitantly out of his chair, and put his bowl in the sink. He then made his way through the door Shizune had come through into the front room where the main exit was, and painfully headed up the stairs to his right.

_'Maybe it is better this way...I'm having a hard time walking and breathing as it is...and...where the hell is this place anyway? I wouldn't have been able to get back without the sun.'_

He finally reached the top of the stairs, and went into the first room on the left as he had been instructed. The room was small and simple. It had a place for him to sleep, and a small closet. He now comprehended why the kitchen was a better choice since the room was barely big enough for just him to fit in. He found a towel inside the closet, and thought it would be best to go take a shower since he still smelled of blood, sweat, and dirt from three days ago.

Taking off his pants and underwear, he wrapped the towel around his lower section, and went into the hallway. There was a door across from his room, next to his room, and one at the end of the short hallway.

_'Damn it. They didn't tell me which one was the bathroom. Hmmm...I'll just try the one at the end of the hall. Most people have restrooms there anyway.'_

With that thought, he went to the door, opened it, and began to step inside, _'This isn't set up like a bathroom.'_ Once he was inside his eyes drifted to the middle of the room only to have his jaw drop a full story down and his legs stiffen from shock. The gorgeous pink-haired girl he had seen watching the sunset in the kitchen was in the middle of the room with only her bra and spandex on. Once again he was looking at her posterior side as she had just managed to unhook her bra with both arms, not realizing yet that she had company. Naruto found himself observing her from the ground up. His eyes traced the curves of her figure starting with her muscular legs to her firm butt, up her lean back, and resting on her rosette cranium.

He watched as her whole body froze. Both her arms were still holding her bra from being released as she finally sensed his presence, and slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder to see him at the doorway in his bandages and towel. For a moment, their eyes connected and neighter moved. The world seemed to stand completely still until the full realization finally hit that the person both were staring at was half-naked. The pink-haired girl screamed so loud at the realization of the situation it took Naruto off guard, and he began to yell out of shock as well.

The girl's eyes became huge, and it was as if some sort of inferno had been set off. Unable to react by running, Naruto merely stood in place yelling, lifting his arms up slightly as if trying to defend himself. The girl, however, did not stand still. Holding her left arm in front of her breasts to hold her bra, she charged straight at him like a wild beast, and extended her right arm to punch him directly in his cheek. The hit was so hard, Naruto was sent flying down the hall, and halfway down the stairs until he hit the stairs mid-way, and then proceeded to skid down the rest of them. He stopped only when he finally hit the wall on the first floor after all the stairs. The towel had been thrown upwards, but now somehow managed to float down onto his body, and barely cover his lower private section. The whole world was spinning in front of his eyes as he layed sprawled on the floor in pain.

At the top of the stairs was the pink-haired girl who had covered herself with in her bathrobe. Her cheeks were pink from blushing, but her eyes were full of fire as she yelled at Naruto, "YOU DIRTY PERVERT! SHANNARO! DIDN'T ANYONE EVER TEACH YOU TO KNOCK! YOU DON'T JUST BARGE INTO A ROOM WHEN YOU DON'T LIVE IN THE HOUSE!" She then turned around, and stormed back into her room, slamming the door as a warning.

Tsunade and Shizune were able to witness Naruto's amazing flight through the air as well as their pupil's insults and anger. They had just been about to go upstairs when they heard the screams, and therefore stayed at the bottom. It was a wise choice since Naruto had shot past them.

Tsunade went to Naruto's side, and looked down at his beaten form. There was a huge crimson mark on his left cheek from where her pupil had socked him. With a stoic face in an attempt to hold back the massive amount of laughter, Tsunade commented, "So I take it you met my other pupil already, Sakura. It's good to see you two got started on the right foot." Shizune looked at her master before shaking her head, and walking up the stairs. "By the way, that was the person that picked you up on a whim, and brought you here in case you wanted to know. I recommend not trying anything perverted the rest of the time you are here." She continued to examine him, "Oh, and the only bathroom we have is on the bottom floor," she pointed to the door under the stairs, "It's right there in case you were at all curious," with that she began walking up the stairs, "Good night, future Hokage."

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Oh Tsunade, you are AWESOME! *cough cough* Welp, this is the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! If you like it, or hate it: Please leave a comment with your thoughts. It is greatly appreaciated ^_^ **Warning:** Flames will be treated with cynical responses. If you leave one, I hope you can endure me. _Also_, more comments = more likely to continue. Otherwise, THANK YOU FOR READING THIS STORY! Until next time hopefully! =D

**Revised: 10/9/09 - I merely went through and changed the structure of the sentences so it flowed better as well as moved a paragraph or two so it fit better. The most major change was in one line when Naruto said, "I tried to prevent a friend from leaving the fire country," to "After searching for many years I finally found the person I was after, but I lost the battle.****" It fits better with the story I am going to portray. I also changed the scene a little where Naruto walks in on Sakura. Better for the effect. =D**


	2. Somebody Hates Me

Hello good members of this website! So what's happening everyone? I just finished the second chapter of this story, and proof read it a bajillion times _(bajillion isn't a real word)_. I can't say that all the other chapters will be this fast though since school starts shortly from now. Anyway, so it should be a bit confusing or awkward, but Naruto does know Rock Lee. This will be explained much later. Also, just to inform you, I have changed the category from humor to adventure since I realized it fits that category better. Anyway, on with the disclaimer to save my rear end.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! So don't freaking sue me! You will get everything a poor college student has...which is nothing. So yeah, Naruto belongs to it's respectable owner. The only thing that is mine is the plot, because I have yet to see someone else to credit it to.**

Another thing I want to now point out:

**Revision: 11/16/09 - Alright, so I didn't realize how many problems there were with this chapter. Honestly, there was a lack of continuity, plenty of mistakes with timing, grammer, spelling, activities, posibilities, etc. It just didn't flow as well as I thought it did or should. So I decided to go back and edit this chapter along with the last one before I got around to posting the 3rd chapter. This is hopefully much cleaner than before. I added a bit more explanation, fixed the grammar, reworded most of it, and changed some of the events so they are hopefully more realistic. It should also be clear that Naruto is confused by what Tsunade and Lee are saying. He doesn't understand how he doesn't know everything he went through prior to waking up. I would now begin to state all the changes this chapter has gone through, however I really don't know anymore since a good bit of it has changed for the most part.  
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**ON WITH THE STORY!  
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**The Contours of the Heart**

**Chapter 2:**

_Somebody Hates Me_

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_=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=_ The Next Day _=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=_

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Naruto rolled onto his back in his tiny bed, he didn't know which should hurt more: His chest, his back, or his cheek. The hit had been so powerful he was surprised she didn't break the bones in his face or the rest of his freshly repaired body. He silently thanked the Kyuubi's chakra within him for helping him recover so quickly. He could finally breathe easily as he took a few deep breaths.

As he laid in the small bed, his thoughts slowly wandered to the female about his age that had caused the strife the night before. In the back of his mind he could hear his own voice screaming he should hate her; loathe her for hurting him since she had completely escalated a petty misunderstanding. He also considered the possibility of being frightened of her immense power. But...he couldn't do either. He couldn't find it in his heart to be disgruntled, aggravated, or frightened of her at the moment. For some reason, those qualities only added to her internal beauty. He was amazed at how someone so gorgeous could be so powerful and dangerous at the same time.

The light slowly filled his small room as he sat up and looked out the window behind him. The sun was peaking out behind the tall evergreen trees, and he could hear the voices of the women downstairs. He remembered the agonizing pain of dragging his battered body up the stairs after enduring the physical and verbal beating only to get to his bed and fall asleep immediately.

_'I should probably get down there and ask if they need any help even though I'm still weak as is.'_

He stood up, and started unwrapping the rough, white bandages around his thoracic region. He was finally able to see the magnitude of where the initial attack had been. The scar was a sliver that stretched from his clavicle to his fourth rib down on the right side of his thoracic cage. Judging by the placement of the scar, he determined that the attack had pierced through the costal cartilage and ribs, barely missing his sternum and heart. It now made sense why it had hurt so much the day before since his ribs, costal cartilage, lung and muscles must have just been reformed by the women and the Kyuubi's charkra before he had woken up. This also explained his inability to walk properly since so much energy had been drained. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what happened. It clicked as he visualized a dark haired man puncturing the area with an electrified hand.

Finished thinking about the newly formed scar, he walked over to the closet, and put back on his orange ninja pants. Searching deeper into the closet he found a black ninja vest with long sleeves and a red spiral on the back of it. Whoever had owned the vest before had a similar body shape and taste in clothing to his own. He then put on his torn ninja sandals, and walked over to the door, opened it, and stepped into the hallway looking towards the stairs to his right. He suddenly felt someone bump into his left side, and instinctively reached out with his left arm, grabbing onto them.

"S-Sorry," he said as he turned his head towards the person, "I should have been-" his whole body froze when he saw which of the females it was, "...more careful."

The arm he had grabbed was none other than Sakura's right arm. He felt as if her green eyes had shot straight into the back of his head like a cannon; nearly shattering him completely. A sudden thought of terror crossed his mind while staring at her, '_I'm probably the last man in the world she wants to see right now...especially after last night. I thought I just concluded that I wasn't going to be scared of her, but now I'm not so sure.'_

He looked down to see he was still grasping her forearm, and immediately released his grip, snapping his hand back next to his thigh._ 'She's going to murder me. It's as simple as that. She's going to hang me in front of this place as a warning to outsiders!...Please don't commit homicide! Spare me! IT'S ALL A MISUNDERSTANDING!'_

A small grunt emitted from her mouth, "It's okay."

_'What?' _his mind yelled, confused by her actions.

"I was thinking about something, and wasn't paying attention." Without saying anything else she walked past him.

As Naruto watched her, he felt suddenly relieved until his mind jumped to another conclusion, _'I can't leave this relation like this...I'll be afraid of her every time I see her, or feel awkward to talk to her, or...Um...Um...I KNOW!'_

"Wait!"

"What?" Sakura stopped on the first step of the stairs, and turned around to look at him.

"Um..." his mouth suddenly felt dry as he stepped closer to her so he was standing over her, "I-I never properly introduced myself to you," he said softly as he raised his hand to the back of his head to scratch it, "My name is Naruto. I believe you were the one who rescued me," his heart was beating rapidly in his chest, "and I-I never got a chance to thank you for saving my life," he gave her the biggest, toothy smile he could muster, "I wanted to apologize for what happened last night. I didn't mean to walk into your room."

She returned his smile with one of her own as she extended her right hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto-san." Naruto stopped scratching his head, and took her hand in his to shake it.

"My name is Sakura," with those words, her grip immediately increased tenfold. Startled, Naruto let out a yelp from surprise as he tried to free his hand from hers, but to no avail; she didn't budge one bit. He felt like he was a poor, defenseless animal stuck in a bear trap trying to escape. "I am happy I was able to save your life, and I accept your apology. However, I will only warn you this once." Naruto found himself focusing on Sakura's smooth, delicate lips as she moved her head closer to his and lowered her voice as she spoke, "If you ever happen to do something perverted like that again I'll make sure not to hold back at all. Am I understood?"

"Loud...and...clear..." Naruto barely managed to say as he endured the pain through his whole arm which felt like it was going to be ripped out of the rotator cuff. He could feel the metacarpals in his hand grinding against each other.

"Good."

The bear trap finally released. He could feel life restored to his fingers as he clutched his hand with the other, and began to examine it to make sure it still worked. Sakura turned around on her heel, and continued her descent. Naruto lifted his head to watch as she glided down the stairs in what he assumed her red mission uniform he had originally seen her in. He should once again be angry or annoyed, but instead he felt somehow entranced by the way she moved. Graceful, confident, and frightening all in one motion.

_'She looks just as good clothed as she does half naked...'_ He shook his head, '_No, she's a freaking monster! Who the hell does that?'_ He released his hand as it was no use holding it, _'Why is it that she can hurt me, and yet I forgive her so quickly when I've only just met her? This doesn't make any sense! I should be head over heels for Hinata-chan who I've known for years...Not this crazed, merciless bitch.'_

Naruto continued to ponder these thoughts as he moved down the stairs. As he entered the kitchen, he noticed Tsunade sitting at the table with a large stack of papers, and Shizune at the stove cooking. Sakura was standing in front of the table across from Tsunade. He unwillingly took his place standing next to Sakura who didn't acknowledge his presence, but continued to look at Tsunade.

"Good of you to join us at such an early hour, Future Hokage. We were afraid you would sleep all day again."

Naruto nodded with a smile in response. He was unsure whether the remark was good or bad. He then noticed his black head band in front of Tsunade. The black band was longer than before, and the silver plate with the Konoha symbol was shined and polished. He extended his arm so as to grab it.

Tsunade noticed Naruto's movement, and handed the headband back to him, "It was torn and ratty when you had it on, so we had to replace the band and metal plate."

"Thank you," Naruto responded as he took it, and tied it around his forehead.

Tsunade returned her attention to Sakura and continued, "I received an emergency message from the village in the mountain earlier this morning. They reported that a few days ago there was a gigantic rock slide that blocked the main path out. They have tried to remove it themselves, but they aren't quick enough. Apparently there are a few huge boulders they are unable to break or push, and need assistance dealing with it. I responded saying that you will be there mid-day today."

Sakura nodded, "That should be a sufficient amount of time."

"Um, Granny Tsunade," both females looked to Naruto, "Is there any way I can help out?"

He could feel Sakura's stare intensify as Tsunade responded, "That would be excellent. Shizune can stay with me, and you can accompany Sakura. The two of you should be fine on your own."

Before Naruto could respond, Sakura cut him off saying, "Tsunade-sama, you can't be serious. He's barely recovered, and-"

Tsunade held up a flat hand so the palm faced towards Sakura, halting her words. Tsunade then focused on Naruto as she spoke the words to Sakura, "One would think that. However...he was able to withstand your assult last night seeing as he is standing tall next to you. A rather remarkable feat if I say so myself. To top it off, he is offering his services," Tsunade turned her head back to Sakura, "I can't reject such a noble act. Therefore he is going with you, and that's final."

Sakura bowed in respect, "I understand Tsunade-sama," she replied bitterly.

Tsunade's lips curled into a smile, "Good to hear! Oh! And the village has already made arrangements so you should be able to stay the night there, and head back within a couple days."

"What?! A couple days? This is a mediocre assignment! A genin could do this easily in a day!"

"Good thing you are one then, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto grumbled at the comment made by Tsunade, "How did you know?" Another question also dawned on him, "And how do you know my last name?"

"Simple. Sakura had run into some of your teammates who had been looking for you on her way back, and they accompanied her here. They were also kind enough to tell us your full name. Upon request, Konoha sent a copy of your file so we would know whether you were dangerous or not. It showed that you had trained with Jiraiya for a few years, but failed to pass the chunin exam before he had taken you as an apprentice."

"Humph, I see."

"So according to your own standards you are qualified to do this job with Sakura."

Naruto crossed his arms in discontent. He didn't appreciate being called out like that, but the information also confused him more, "So you're telling me that you knew who I was, yet you didn't acknowledge that yesterday because...why?"

Shizune came up next to Tsunade, and put a plate of food down in front of her. She then handed both Naruto and Sakura an egg sandwich as well as a sack filled with food.

"Though it isn't as important, one of the reasons is due to making sure you were who your teammates and you claimed to be. If your teammates said you were someone, but you then claimed to be someone else...You can see how there would be a problem. Also, by getting your files I had a better understanding of what kind of previous injuries you may of had. Realistically, I wanted to make sure that my pupils and myself were not in any danger from your presence."

Naruto nodded. The reasoning was legitimate. He took a bite of his sandwich which tasted delicious, but something else triggered in his head, _'Teammates...I had teammates...I thought...No, it's not possible...After I finished my training with Jiraiya...I visited the village only to see Hinata-chan after not seeing her for 2 years...but then I left looking for him again by myself...it's been a year since I went back to Konoha...so...there must be a mistake. Who were the people who claimed to be my teammates?' _He pushed the thoughts away when Tsunade began speaking again.

"Anyway, you two should get going. Sakura knows the way to the village. Even if you two go at a slow pace, since you are not at full speed Naruto, you two should still be able to get there by the expected time."

"If you say so, Granny Tsunade."

"We'll take care of this, Tsunade-sama." Both teens turned around, and headed out the house, finishing the rest of their sandwiches.

The moment they stepped through the door, a teen about their age ran up to them. Naruto recognized the black bowl cut hair, fuzzy eyebrows, and green latex suit immediately.

"Lee! What are you doing here? How have you been? I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Naruto-kun! It's good to see you have finally recovered!" He then tilted his head at the next comment, "But what are you talking about? I saw you less than a week ago?"

Naruto paused for a moment before chuckling, "Oh yeah, it just feels like forever after everything that happened," he lied. He felt nervous as the realization washed over him. He honestly didn't remember when he had last seen Lee, but had assumed it was when he had visited Konoha. Apparently this wasn't the case.

"Good to see you're still playing jokes," Lee commented, then paused as he looked from Naruto to Sakura then back to Naruto, "...But...why are you coming out of the _same_ house WITH Sakura-chan?!"

_'...how is this a question? I thought the teammates followed her back here_,' he thought as he finally responded, "Huh? Uh...You know her?" Naruto pointed at Sakura, confused, "And how did you know I recovered?"

Lee froze for a moment, "Of course I know her. Why wouldn't I? You must have hit your head or something. You know Sensei and I have trained in these parts of the fire country for years now. Sensei comes to visit Tsunade-sama as well as to discuss official business while I typically speak with Sakura-chan." Lee then turned his attention to Sakura, "I have known you for years, right?"

While Sakura responded to Lee, Naruto glanced at her out of the corner of his eye_, 'I__ had no idea fuzzy brows had known this crazy female all these years. How come I never met her?' _The reminder of the incident the night before sprung to mind, _'Maybe it's a good thing__.'_

Lee then tilted his head again as he returned his attention to Naruto, "You really are acting strange today, Naruto-kun. I was in the team that went with you for the mission, remember?"

"Oh yeah! Sorry, I remember now. Everything has been jumbled in my mind from being wounded and out for so long," he claimed as he scratched the back of his head with a big smile.

In truth, he could vaguely remember anything besides the man's face, and parts of the final battle. However, now he had a team with him when everything had happened, and it seemed to consist of people who were close to him. He didn't understand why the information he remembered was conflicting with what everyone else was saying. He made a mental note to look at the file Tsunade had acquired of him when he returned from the mission with Sakura, but for now he needed to just agree and get moving.

"It is understandable," Lee remarked as his voice changed to that of a heroic tone,"You were injured in battle, collapsed in a mud puddle, and unconscious. By the time the team had completed the mission and gotten back to you, Sakura-chan was already picking you up. She then brought you here to tend to you since this was closer than Konoha."

A brief image flashed in his head at Lee's words. He knew it was just before he was knocked out since his clothes were ripped apart, blood was coming from his chest, and all he saw were red eyes searching his soul in front of him. He could see the man's lips moving, but couldn't make out what he was saying. He shook his head slightly, and the image was gone. The two adolescents were looking at him baffled.

"Huh? Why are you two staring at me like that?"

Lee finally spoke, "Are you really alright, Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah, couldn't be better," Naruto claimed with another smile, "It's good to hear we were able to complete the mission in the end, but Sakura-san and I should get going. We need to get to the village by mid-day afterall."

Lee nodded, "Definitely, it is good to see you back on your feet Naruto-kun, but-" Lee then turned his attention to the rosette, "I do have a question for you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura raised her eyebrow amused, "And what would that be?"

"WILL YOU GO ON A DATE WITH ME?!"

Sakura let out a sigh, "I don't know how many times I need to tell you this, but the answer is still NO!!!"

His head flopped downward in defeat, but immediately came back up to look at Sakura, "It's because you are going out with Naruto-kun, isn't it?"

A look of disgust spread across Sakura and Naruto's face instantaneously as both of them shrieked, "WHAT?!" at the same time.

"Naruto-kun, even though you are still recovering, I challenge you to a fight for Sakura's love!"

"WHAT?! I JUST MET HER YESTERDAY FOR THE FIRST TIME, SO WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?! THE ANSWER IS NO WAY! You're the one making false assumptions! If you want her then she's yours." Sakura turned and glared at Naruto. He felt a chill run down his spine as her eyebrow twitched. With all his attention focused on Sakura, he said the words as clearly as he could, "You can deal with him on your own terms. I'm taking no part in this!"

"We are going to continue being rivals then from now on!"

Both teens snapped their heads back to Lee.

'_Did he not hear anything I just said?! Wait, from now on? Why does it feel like there is something I don't know?'_

"DROP IT, THICK BROWS!" Without warning, Sakura reached out and smacked the top of Lee's head so he went straight down into the ground, "I am not an object! And I already told you I don't like you in that manner! I'm not going out on a date with you! And Naruto-san has nothing to do with that! NOW DROP IT!"

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," Lee said from his spot on the ground.

Sakura sighed as she took hold of Naruto's hand, "Come on, Naruto-san, we need to get going if we want to get back in a couple days." She then began dragging him beyond Lee who had just gotten back on his feet, perked up, and started asking more questions as he followed them.

"Can I come?!"

"NO!"

"I'll be good! Can I come?!"

"NO!"

Though Naruto felt repulsed by the fact that Sakura had taken his hand to drag him along like a child, he had completely blocked out the bickering, and felt himself blush slightly from the contact.

"I knew you two were dating! You're holding his hand! You lied!"

"NO! I didn't lie! We're not dating! I just grabbed some part of his arm!"

"Then will you go out with me then?!"

"NO! You're being extremely annoying!"

Naruto found Sakura's hand was warm, but rough from the training she had endured. He could feel the neurons shoot up his arm from the intimacy, and he could hear the words being shouted over his head, but none effected him at all.

"Then can I at least come?"

"NO! You'll help me more if you don't come!"

"Hello Sakura. Is Tsunade around?" Lee's sensei, Guy, asked as Naruto and Sakura walked past him. Guy was also dressed in a similar fashion to that of Lee with his ridiculous green suit, jonin vest, black bowl cut hair, thick eyebrows, and perky attitude.

"She's at the house," Sakura responded.

"Thanks. May your youth be the strength to glory!"

"Thanks Guy."

Though a short intermission, Lee hadn't given up.

"Can I come? I can protect both of you!"

"NO THICK BROWS! GO WITH GUY-SENSEI!"

Naruto finally tuned back in to the conversation with the last comment since Sakura had yelled it so loud. He could tell Sakura's words finally got through thick brow's head since Lee stopped in his tracks, and raised his fist up into the air.

"Alright! MAY THE POWER OF YOUTH GUIDE YOU TO ETERNAL GLORY!"

"Yeah, yeah," Sakura commented as she dragged Naruto into the forest surroundings. Lee went back to Guy who was now talking with Tsunade and Shizune in front of the house. Sakura's grip relaxed as she exhaled, finally letting go of Naruto when they were just out of earshot of Lee. She then faced Naruto as she began to stretch out her arm by pulling it across her body.

"I've never seen him try so hard before. He normally attempts a few times, but lets it go after that." She switched to stretching out her other arm.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen him like that either. He was even more eccentric than usual...If that even possible?" Naruto thought for a moment about it, "Nope, he's basically as eccentric as one can get."

Sakura giggled at the comment causing Naruto to smile from her reaction,_ 'She is pretty when she is normal.'_ Naruto felt himself perk up slightly at the feeling of finally breaking her cold exterior. The few seconds of joy left as quickly as it came as Sakura turned on her heel to point in a direction.

"A-Alright, so the village is about a half-day trip north from here," Sakura lowered her arm as she looked over her shoulder back at Naruto, "Like Tsunade-sama said, we can go at a slower pace since you've just recovered, but we definitely need to get there by mid-afternoon. The village is complaining that this is preventing them from trading with other villages."

"Alright, lets go! I'm pretty sure I can keep up with ya!" Naruto commented with a wink.

"Lets see what you have then."

With that both shot up into the trees, and began the trip.

_

_=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=_ Mid-afternoon that day _=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=_

_

Several hours and short, silent breaks later, the two were approaching the village. Though both were still unfamiliar with each other, the journey had been comfortable.

"So where is the village?" Naruto questioned as he looked around while he walked next to Sakura.

"Straight ahead," she answered as she pointed straight ahead.

If Sakura hadn't pointed out the village, Naruto was positive he would have passed by it without ever noticing. From where they stood, the giant land mass looked like a regular, 150-foot mountain with extremely steep slopes, trees surrounding it, and a flat top. Upon closer inspection, Naruto could make out a path that lead into the village. It was cut directly into the mountain, but blocked by a 50-foot barrier of rocks with a dozen or so men chipping away at it. Naruto now understood why the rockslide was hurting the village's economy, as there was no way for the villagers to possibly get over it with their things nor destroy the wall quick enough.

_'That's inconvenient...They only have one path in and out.' _

Naruto and Sakura climbed up the barrier easily. Some of the men at the top stopped working when they noticed them, and began cheering and clapping happily at seeing their presence. Naruto and Sakura waved and smiled as they passed them.

As soon as they reached the bottom of the barrier, what seemed to be the whole village ran up to them with glee. Young and old surrounded them, all speaking different things at once. Shocked, Naruto put his arms up in defense. He looked over to Sakura to see that she hadn't budged at all, but instead was scanning the crowd. Her eyes finally landed on someone as she moved through the people to stand in front of the person she wanted to address.

"Where can I find the village elder?" She asked the middle-aged man.

"He is this way! I will take you to him!" He answered with a smile as he turned around, "He is this way," he said as he pointed. The whole crowd began to walk in the direction

Naruto and Sakura walked side by side as they followed him. As they walked through the village, Naruto couldn't help but observe what was around.. It was much different from the outside in that it looked like the village was surrounded by gigantic rock walls. Some of the homes were built into the walls while others were made of trees in the large, flat, circular area in the middle in the mountain. It reminded him of when he had visited the sand village a while back to speak to Gaara, except that this village wasn't made of sand.

"You did pretty well keeping up with me, Naruto," Sakura commented as they walked through the village.

"It's mostly due to your excellent abilities regarding the use of medical ninjutsu," he commented with a smile, "I'm pretty sure if you didn't heal me when you found me I would be dead right now." He looked over at her to see her smiling back at him. The smile felt familiar, but he couldn't place it.

After walking through the streets, they finally found an elderly man who greeted both of them. He looked up at them with his crystal blues eyes. He was about five feet tall, and dressed in light blue robe attire. Though he was bald he had a long white beard that went down to his waist.

"Ah, Sakura-san. It is good to see you again."

Sakura bowed, "It is good to see you too, village elder."

"I'm happy that the Great Tsunade is willing to help a village such as ours that is unable to pay very much."

"It is our pleasure to help you."

"And who is this striking young man standing next to you? Is it your new boyfriend? I was expecting Shizune-san to accompany you."

Sakura blushed several shades of red, "No, he is not my boyfriend," she said as she waved her hands in front of her body hoping to make a point, "He is merely accompaning me on this mission upon Tsunade's request."

Naruto took the moment to bow, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto," he responded with a dignified tone, "And who are you?"

"I'm the village elder, chosen by the village to lead."

"Ah, nice to meet'cha old man."

Naruto could see the vein pop out of the village elders head as he raised his arms, "OLD?! Who are you calling old? I'm fit and wise. Respect your elders!"

"You're not an elder of mine-" Naruto suddenly felt a jolt of pain go through his shoulder, his arm go numb, and his feet react by stepping to the left from the impact, "Ow..." Sakura had smacked him directly in the shoulder.

"Ignore him, village elder. He is just here to help," Sakura said with a smile as she looked at the village elder.

_'Why do I get the feeling she enjoys doing that?'_ Naruto thought has he massaged his shoulder.

"So what is the problem?" Sakura continued to say.

"As you can see, we are having difficulty clearing entrance path as our men have grown tired from working so long for the last few days. They were able to lower it down a good ten feet or so, but then they ran into huge boulders that they were unable to break easily."

Sakura nodded, "How long has the barrier been here for?"

"A few days. We are okay with food and water, but traders and merchants are complaining since they can't get in or out to trade or sell."

"Then leave it to us," Sakura said with a smile, "We should be able to clear most of it today. If we don't finish, we can clear the rest by tomorrow. Tell the villagers not to worry."

"Ha ha, I knew I could count on the Great Tsunade to send excellent ninjas. Get to it then. We will have a place for both of you to stay tonight or when you get tired."

With that, Sakura and Naruto turned around and walked back through the village to the barrier. As they walked, Sakura moved closer to Naruto so she could whisper in his ear.

"Don't you think it's strange," she whispered to him.

"What? What's strange?" Naruto said back.

"The barrier like that. The walls of rock next to it look unaffected yet there are all these rocks blocking the path. It's almost half the size of the walls. Also, the path way looks to be 30 feet across. I don't think there could be that many rocks above it."

"Now that you mention it," Naruto looked at the barrier they were walking towards, "I agree. That is quite strange."

"The more I look at it, the less it looks like a rockslide."

"Yeah..." Naruto paused for a moment, "Looks like there is something we should ask the old man when we get back."

They finally reached the bottom of the barrier and jumped onto the top of it. The very top of the barrier was at least 10 feet across, and there were several boulders sitting on the top. The men that had been working on it earlier had climbed down and were now waiting and watching a safe distance away.

Naruto began stretching, "Alright, lets get to it. Ladies first," he said with a smile as his arms went back to his side.

Sakura smirked, "Just try to keep up," she put her black gloves on then walked over to a boulder, stopping a few yards away from it, and crouched down. She then bolted straight at the exposed boulder sitting on the plateau where they stood, drew back her arm, and shot it forward into the boulder like a gun.

Naruto's mouth dropped open at the sight of this, "Awesome..." was the only word to escape.

The whole boulder had exploded from her hit. For a split second, he saw her face behind all the flying debris only to become entranced by it. She didn't close her eyes, which allowed him to see the determination that was within. It was frightening yet intriguing and motivational at the same time. He suddenly felt grateful his head and shoulders were still attached since his head could have been the boulder the previous night.

Sakura straightened up, and looked at him only to see his mouth agap. She then commented with a smile, "Are you gonna help out or just stand around catching flies with your mouth open like that?"

This somehow shook Naruto out of his state of awe, "Alright! My turn! Shadow Clone Technique!!!" Roughly fifty clones appeared from out of the air, began picking up rocks, and moving them down the barrier to the side.

It was Sakura's turn to drop her jaw in amusement, "Amazing..." was the only word she could think of since she had never seen a technique like that before. She had only ever experienced the clone technique in which a few clones were made, but not when they were able to lift objects like that and not to this magnitude.

Naruto glanced at her as his clones picked up rubble. He smirked as he said in a sarcastic tone, "So are you gonna help out or just stand around catching flies with your mouth open like that?"

"Humpth, guess you're not half bad," she remarked with a grin, "Try this out for fun!" She sprinted over to another boulder and nailed it as hard as she could. The boulder exploded like the first one.

They continued the pattern for the rest of the day. Sakura would blow up boulders with her immense power, and Naruto's clones would move all the pieces down the barrier and to the side. None of the villagers dared to intervene since they were too afraid of getting injured in the process, but they all watched in amazement from their safe distance away.

The sun had finally set when the two had decided to stop working for the day. The night would be more dangerous for them to work through than just resting. The barrier was half the size it had originally been, but they were exhausted from having to use up so much chakra to break and move the rocks.

"Let's call it a day, Naruto-san, and head back into the village for some food and rest."

Naruto nodded, and released all the clones he had made earlier. Just as he put his arms back down to his side, he felt something clamp onto his right one, tear away his sleeve and skin, then release him immediately.

"OW!"

He only had time to see a small black, shadow-like creature bolting away from him, down the barrier, and away from the village. He couldn't make out what it was, nor would he be able to catch up with it.

"DID YOU SEE THAT?!" he yelled from surprise as he grasped his arm from the immense pain shooting through it where he had been bitten. He looked down at the upper region of his arm to see a large gash, and the dark crimson liquid dripping off his fingers. Part of his sleeve was now missing.

Standing still, Sakura looked over to Naruto. From what he could tell, she was geniunily surprised and worried as she ran over to him. "Yeah, it sprinted straight for you, bit into your upper arm and clothing ripping it, and then ran off." She took hold of his arm, and placed her hand over his which was holding the gash.

Naruto blushed from the intimacy, "Please move your hand," she said as he obliged. A green light emitted from where she was touching. Naruto could feel his muscle tissue reconnecting, and the skin being slowly reformed. The light faded as she removed her hand, and reached into her pouch for some white wrapping bandage.

"We should get back to the village so I can properly heal you. I've expended too much chakra breaking boulders, but this should hold until we get there."

Naruto nodded in agreement as Sakura stood in front of him and lifted his arm up so it was between them, and beginning to roughly wrap a bandage around it.

"Don't you think it's strange?" he asked Sakura.

Sakura looked up at him and nodded, "I've never seen anything like that before. I couldn't even make out what it was since it moved so fast."

It was then that Naruto realized how close her face was to his, and he felt his heart skip a beat as he looked down into her green eyes. Her lips looked so soft, and her skin so smooth as he pondered the thought _'I wonder what would happen if I lowered my head to kiss her right now? Would she accept it?'_ He slowly began lowering his head towards hers with that thought in mind, but stopped as another thought filled his head, _'She would rip off my arm and explode me like one of those boulders.'_

By the time he stopped moving his head, he was mere inches away from her face, and he finally realized that Sakura was blushing from the closeness.

"Um, Uh...N-N-Naruto-san, what are you doing?"

He immediately retracted, and straightened up, "Oh! Sorry!" he said as he attempted to laugh it off as he raised his free arm to his head and started scratching the back of it, "I was just trying to see what you were doing. I always wondered what the proper technique for wrapping an arm was."

_'Good save, Naruto. She totally doesn't think you're a pervert now. Let's just remember how you barged into her room last night, and got a preview of her body. Of course it would be brilliant to try kissing her NOW. It wouldn't allow her to get a running start again,' _he mentally yelled at himself.

"Um, okay. I didn't think you had an interest in this?" Sakura responded slightly baffled, and still blushing.

"You never know when it's useful," he said with a smile, _'Like when I'm trying to bandage myself, because I pissed you off,'_ he remarked, _'At least she didn't blow this out of proportion as well.'_

Sakura nodded, and went back to wrapping his arm. She finally finished, and harshly tied a knot on top of the gash as Naruto winced from the pain.

"I wonder why it ran away so quick?" Naruto commented.

"No idea" Sakura responded, "but it looks like we're going to be here longer than a night or two." She cocked her head towards the village, "We should go talk to the village elder, and see what's really going on."

Naruto nodded to comply with her idea, as both turned to the village, jumped down the lowered barrier, and walked towards the village elder's home.

_

* * *

_

So yes, this is Chapter 2...No villagers were harmed in the writing of this chapter. Lol, jk, jk. Sorry for the corny joke just now. Anyway, it's already been said at the end of the last chapter, but just to reiterate: comments and critiques are greatly appreciated as usual ;) I enjoyed reading the comments for the last chapter ^_- it made me more motivated to get this chapter out faster. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter though it may have sparked up a few questions. So until next time!


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